Impact of the storm on the author

A summary of issues still pending in Monmouth County towns hit by superstorm Sandy.

ABERDEEN

Compared to its other neighbors on the Bayshore, the township mostly escaped severe damage with the exception of a few affected residents, most of whom have returned home.

“We do have one woman who’s in a nightmare trying to get (state) funding” to demolish and rebuild her home, Township Manager Holly Reycraft said. “She’s our main person right now that’s having a problem, but she’s on the wait list” for the Community Block Grant.

In hopes of avoiding future damage from a similar storm, the township has applied for grants to expand its sea wall and rebuild its dunes. It plans to move the location of its sea wall entrance closer to the beach after superstorm Sandy’s floodwater funneled through the existing opening, she said.

ALLENHURST

The borough sustained the least damage of all the towns lining Monmouth County’s shoreline.

It has already restored its beach cabanas and bathrooms, said Lori Osborn, the borough’s clerk, administrator and registrar. However, it did demolish Mister C’s Beach Bistro, a prominent borough oceanfront restaurant, which officials hope will return by next summer, she said.

ASBURY PARK

Of all the towns lining Monmouth County’s shoreline, the city may have bounced back the quickest, mostly due to a lack of structural damage seen elsewhere.

“Asbury was so, so lucky as far as the type of damage that we incurred,” said Terence Reidy, the city’s manager. “No one lost their home; no buildings were destroyed — just one business in a mobile trailer. Moving forward, we’re in good condition.”

The city reopened its boardwalk before Memorial Day, which allowed all of its businesses to experience a summer that generated more revenue and higher attendance numbers than the prior season, he said.

However, the boardwalk only opened following temporary repairs to the area immediately south of Convention Hall on its northern end. Now, the city will accept bids for permanent repairs and plans for completion by next summer, Reidy said.

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ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS

With the exception of five still-displaced residents, the borough’s recovery has hinged on the restoration of its harbor.

Officials opted to rebuild only three of the harbor’s previous eight fixed piers. At the recommendation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, they increased the harbor’s number of floating docks to nine, as those structures stand a far better chance against future storms like Sandy, Business Administrator Adam Hubeny said.

The return of the harbor should fill many of its rental vacancies that remain after some users took a yearlong leave of absence after the storm. More than 50 people have already joined a wait list for a spot as the harbor’s staff members ready themselves to assign spaces in January, he said.

AVON-BY-THE-SEA

The hard-hit seaside borough reopened its boardwalk in time for last summer, but now it hopes to rebuild other structures and welcome back still-displaced residents.

“We’re not back to normal yet, but we’re on our way,” said Tim Gallagher, the borough’s administrator and clerk, who added borough officials have grown frustrated with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s constant switching of representatives.

Many residents have expressed their own impatience with FEMA’s constantly changing rules and programs. They still await checks from FEMA to repay contractors, as well as elevate and renovate their homes. However, they almost immediately received payments from flood insurance companies, he said.

Officials hope to rebuild the borough’s bathroom and restaurant pavilion by Mother’s Day. However, they will postpone reconstruction of the public works building until the spring of 2014 and assembly building until 2015, Gallagher said.

BELMAR

The borough opened its rebuilt boardwalk by Memorial Day, which allowed its beachfront to return to some sense of normalcy this past summer.

However, superstorm Sandy also destroyed the borough’s four oceanfront pavilions, two of which the borough will rebuild with hopes of completion by next summer. But while the borough’s government and symbols have begun to make a comeback, its residents and businesses dealt a hard blow by Sandy have yet to do so.

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“The people and businesses are not coming back as quickly as the town did because of how FEMA’s set up,” Mayor Matt Doherty said. “The system is set up so that governments come back faster than residents and businesses, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing.”

BRADLEY BEACH

The borough avoided major flooding and structural damage due to its paved promenade and dune system, but it risks significant damage from future storms until it replaces the dunes.

“If we had another Sandy tomorrow, we’d be in trouble,” said Leonard Guida, the borough’s coordinator for the Office of Emergency Management and police chief.

However, the borough completed the previous dunes in 1992, which allowed for 20 years of growth, he said.

“Before it’s going to be a viable wall against the ocean, it’s going to take a couple years to reconstitute,” Guida said.

The borough can only begin dune replenishment after the completion of its beach replenishment, but the Army Corps of Engineers has only supplied a tentative start date for the latter project, he said.

DEAL

Following the restoration of its beach club, the borough aims to repair its remaining structural damage with hopes for later financial reimbursement.

Officials want to rebuild the Conover Pavilion by Memorial Day and replace the sanitary sewer-pumping station’s equipment by the end of this year, said James Rogers, the municipal clerk and administrator.

The borough would likely apply for reimbursement of those projects at a quicker pace if the state and Federal Emergency Management Agency did not require so much paperwork, he said.

HIGHLANDS

The resiliency of residents and business owners has helped the borough get back on its feet, but it still has ways to go.

Roughly 250 to 300 residents still have not returned home and 15 to 20 percent of businesses remain closed, including the community center and borough hall. However, the borough’s biggest challenge will come from property owners who have neglected their damage, said Tim Hill, the borough’s administrator.

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“We’re going to have to be a little bit more aggressive in terms of enforcement,” he said. “People have to take, and should have to take, responsibility for their properties.”

KEANSBURG

The amusement park has reopened and businesses have returned, but many homeowners remain displaced as they await grant money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“They’re coming to our meetings frustrated,” Deputy Mayor James Cocuzza said. “They’re broke; they don’t have (any) money, and they’re waiting on FEMA. People say they’re going back six and seven times; they feel like they’re getting the runaround.”

Homeowners cannot afford to elevate their homes without FEMA’s financial assistance. But for some, that money will arrive too late, as many landlords and homeowners have already abandoned their properties, he said.

KEYPORT

A long wait for financial assistance from insurance companies has comprised the borough’s biggest sore spot.

“We need that decision so that we can move forward,” Council President Joseph Sheridan said. “People are being very patient with us through this process only because we’re in a better spot than others.”

The borough bonded for more than $1 million to replace lights and other electrical devices on its waterfront. However, officials need to know how much insurance companies will pay them before they approach the Federal Emergency Management Agency for further aid, he said.

Otherwise, the borough reaped some benefits from superstorm Sandy, such as a strengthened Office of Emergency Management. Its emergency services have replaced the items they lost in the storm, but some businesses and residents have yet to return, Sheridan said.

LONG BRANCH

Surprisingly, the city recorded its second-best summer in beach revenue, even though it has yet to rebuild part of its boardwalk and some residents remain displaced.

The city’s businesses have rebounded and its beach replenishment will start in late October or early November, said Howard Woolley Jr., the city’s business administrator.

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However, the city has postponed the repairs of its southern boardwalk, bluff and roadway until the Federal Emergency Management Agency announces a finalized amount of financial aid for the project, he said.

“We’re up 25 to 30 feet,” Woolley said, referring to the normal height from the beach to the top of the bluff. “To rebuild that, we got a lot of costs on our plate. We don’t want to begin that job until FEMA reimbursement is obligated.”

The city hopes to receive the numbers by late October, but it would not begin construction until next spring, which means it will not reopen that section of the boardwalk by Memorial Day.

MANASQUAN

“People don’t know what to do and don’t want to spend a lot of money fixing up their house only to find out that next year they have to raise their house three feet or five feet, so it slows down our recovery,” Councilman Edward Donovan said. “We have houses untouched since the storm.”

FEMA’s guidelines have expanded flood zones to include more borough homes than before superstorm Sandy, he said.

Elsewhere, the borough has somewhat returned to normal. It reopened its beach and walkway last Memorial Day, while it will complete beach replenishment by next summer, Donovan said.

MIDDLETOWN

Many township residents whose homes sustained substantial damage have just begun to receive the money they need to rebuild.

“The funds are flowing now, finally,” said James Van Nest, the township’s assistant administrator. “So between now and the end of the year, most of their homes should be restored.”

A combination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and insurance companies have delayed the process, he said.

“We told everybody a year ago to expect that it would take this long,” Van Nest said. “Obviously, that’s the most important goal — getting people’s lives back to normal.”

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MONMOUTH BEACH

The borough experienced a healthy summer after it succeeded in its push to reopen its beachfront and beach club by Memorial Day.

“Our main focus was basically our beach club because, besides taxes, that’s the only revenue we have in town,” said Borough Administrator Gerald Chismar, who will now turn his attention to structural repairs.

Superstorm Sandy flooded many municipal buildings, including Borough Hall and the police headquarters, firehouse, library and first-aid buildings. Once officials decide whether they want to demolish or renovate those structures, the reconstruction process should progress rather quickly, he said.

Otherwise, residents have begun raising their homes and all businesses have returned, including a couple of new ones, Chismar said.

NEPTUNE

The Ocean Grove section of the township has mostly returned to normal besides the absence of its boardwalk, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency has refused to help rebuild.

“I’ve been very disappointed that FEMA has yet to help us with rebuilding the boardwalk, which is on its third appeal now,” Committeeman Randy Bishop said. “When people don’t have a boardwalk, they walk in the streets. This summer, we saw many guests and residents just walk into traffic where the boardwalk didn’t exist.”

However, a community-wide fundraiser started in April by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association recently met its goal of $1.5 million. Of that, the association says it will use $750,000 for the boardwalk, $100,000 for the roof of the Great Auditorium, and $500,000 for architectural and structural repairs to Thornley Chapel.

SEA BRIGHT

Volunteers and returning businesses have aided the borough’s better-than-expected recovery, but the slow delivery of grant money to repair homes and a dismal summer season have dragged it down.

“A majority of residents have been able to come back to their homes,” Mayor Dina Long said. “But on the flip side, we have a disturbingly high number of residents who are still displaced from their homes, myself included, for various reasons that all come down to one thing, which is having the money to rebuild.”

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Several factors have delayed the flow of that money, including the long process involved in federal and state grant programs, disputes with flood insurance companies, and under- and uninsured homeowners, she said.

SEA GIRT

As the borough has just about returned to normal, it still needs to complete installation of its dune system.

“Our biggest challenges are providing solid public safety, both on the beach and in our town, and making sure we are protected in terms of what storms might do to us,” Mayor Ken Farrell said. “I’m pretty comfortable with where we are.”

The borough has already put in place roughly 98 percent of the dunes, including those in the lowest area in the southern end of town. However, the planting of dune grass, which binds the dunes together through its roots, may take as long as two years, he said.

Otherwise, the borough still hopes to receive reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the $1.75 million it borrowed to rebuild its boardwalk. In order to repay that debt in the meantime, last summer the borough raised the price of its seasonal beach badge for the first time in five years to $105 from $100, Farrell said.

SPRING LAKE

The borough restored its boardwalk with relative ease, but it has encountered engineering challenges in its attempts to prevent future flooding at Lake Como and Wreck Pond.

At Lake Como, floodwater from superstorm Sandy destroyed the outflow pipe, so the borough worked with Belmar and Monmouth County to place emergency pipes under Ocean Avenue to prevent future flooding, Councilman Robert Drasheff said.

At Wreck Pond, the storm created a new natural inlet that the borough has since maintained. However, the outflow pipe there also allows an influx of water during a hurricane or nor’easter, which officials hope to fix by next spring after they acquire the third of three permits needed, he said.

UNION BEACH

Despite the recognition the small Bayshore borough has received since superstorm Sandy, its recovery has proceeded slower than expected.

“Our hopes were that it would be a lot faster, but it’s taking time,” Councilman Charles Cocuzza said. “If everybody on the government end would speed up a little bit, we’d be in a better position.”

Many residents still await checks from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for previously promised grants, said Cocuzza, who believes the borough has a long way to go before it returns to normal.